With
more than 15 years of progressive engineering and network management experience,
Scott
Akrie (BS ’87, Electrical Engineering) was named vice president of
network operations for Clearwire Technologies, Inc., a leading provider
of wireless local access solutions in February, 2000. He will develop,
implement and manage the process required to rapidly deploy and operate
Clearwire IP networks nationwide including overseeing coverage planning
and network construction, creating a centralized 24 by 7 network administration
and monitoring center, and designing responsive first tier customer service
and technical support programs. Prior
to Akrie’s appointment at Clearwire, he was director of fixed network engineering
and planning at PrimeCo Personal Communications where he managed a 45 million-dollar
budget and supervised a team of 26 engineers, managers and directors. Before
joining PrimeCo, Akrie was director of customer service and field service
engineering at Repeater Technology, Inc. where he managed the customer
Service Center providing both domestic and international customer supports.
Akrie also held positions as MTA director of engineering and operations
at Sprint PCS and manager of personal communications service network design
at AirTouch Communications.

Woodside,
California has become home to a growing organic farm business known as
the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture. Among the
community, this 2-acre plot of land located in the valley oaks of Woodside
is commonly referred to as “The Farm.” The founder of The Farm is David
Blume (attended '73-'75, Ecology and Sytematic Biology), a self-styled
permaculture designer. The Farm is a community-supported effort to produce
the best selection of fresh and pesticide-free fruits and vegetables. In
a six-month period, 120 families use The Farm to purchase their share of
harvest. The distinctive advantage of purchasing produce from The Farm
is the difference in taste and freshness. Lynne Russell, a shareholder
of he Farm put it simply, “It’s a wonderful place and my garden is nothing
compared to it.” Customers like Russell believe that there is great difference
between organic foods and pesticide sprayed foods. Vegetables and fruits
are harvested that very morning and may only be a few hours old compared
to
the typical grocery store produce selection that involves a seven to fourteen
day process from field to store.Last year The Farm,
with the help of six employees, provided 80,000 pounds of fresh vegetables,
five times the output of conventional farming methods according to Blume.
He has been highly successful in differentiating the farm from just any
organic growing progress. More than 10,000 people have been taught the
technique at the farm and abroad. On the first Saturday of every month
he hosts a “Permaculture Learning Tour” to show the benefits of organic
farming and self-sufficiency. To Blume, “it’s a radical social statement
and every time you eat a locally grown organic carrot you’re turning back
global warming.” The Farm has become evidence to the feasibility of what
is called permaculture, an earth-friendly design system that encompasses
forestry, architecture, conservation, ecology, and farming. Thus, David
Blume, who has studied firsthand similar terracing techniques practiced
in South America and China, has gone beyond simply producing food organically,
he has looked at all the systems and has created a farm that serves our
needs and takes care of the environment.

Neil
Gray (BA ’62, Mathematics), a retired professor of mathematics from
Western Washington State University, and his brother, Peter Gray (BA
’66, Mathematics), are authors of the Math-Science Adventure Series,
which has been listed with the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics
and Science Education (ENC). Peter and Neil wrote the five book series
of hands-on lesson plans for elementary teachers in 1996. The Clearinghouse
told them in January, 2000 that “These titles have been chosen after receiving
an excellent review in Teaching Children Mathematics.” A magazine published
by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Since
his retirement, Neil is taking a long deserved vacation. Peter
attended the Second International Conference On Mathematics Education in
Hangzhou, China, from May 10-14, 2000. The agenda covers: "Bridging the
Gap between Research and Practice K - 12 through International Collaboration."
Peter's presentation addressed a 'new' direction that curriculum development
for grades K-8 should take. Also he was proposing that the standard Math-Ed
courses for elementary and middle school pre-service teachers be dropped,
and in their place, teacher colleges should spend at least two years teaching
this new curriculum to the pre-service teachers. "We should teach it to
them just the way we want them to teach it to their own students. We (university
professors) must become a new role model for our pre-service teachers." The
'new' curriculum is not really new, but rather a twist on what we already
know. We know that most children entering the third grade list mathematics
as one of their favorite subjects. But when they graduate from high school
most of them want nothing to do with mathematics. We know that children
learn best from immersion in purposeful work. The curriculum Peter is proposing
integrates mathematics with simple science experiments, reading and writing,
history, geography, the collection of data, and playground activities.
The philosophy behind this approach is summed up in a Chinese Proverb,
“Tell me and I will forget, Show me and I may remember, Involve me and
I will understand.” Peter may be reached at: math@pacificrim.net
or (360) 671-2253.